1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the method and the apparatus for recording and/or reproducing an image information, especially in which as recording and/or reproducing a shot image (that is the image shot by a person using an image-sensing device such as a camera) on/from a recording medium, a certain additional information corresponding to such as a shot place (that is the place in which the person has shot) and a shot object (that is the object for which the person has shot) can be recorded and/or reproduced with the shot image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general an image information recording and/or reproducing apparatus, hereafter which is called as the image recording reproducing apparatus, includes some functions to record a shot image on a recording medium such as an optical film, a magnetic tape, an optical and/or magnetic disk and a semiconductor memory, to reproduce the recorded image on a display and to hard copy it as a photography.
It is well-known that the conventional image recording reproducing apparatus employing a timer has the functions to record a shot time (that is the time at which a person has shot) and to reproduce the shot time on a display with a shot image.
Also the functions to record an information of a shot position (that is the position on which a person has shot by standing) corresponding to a shot image, of which the information is obtained by calculating based on a radio wave information received from a plural number of satellites with GPS (Global Positioning System), and to reproduce the shot position information on a display with the shot image are known, for example, by the Japanese published unexamined patent application No. H9-113981.
Furthermore, the functions to record the information of a shot position and a shot direction (that is the direction to which the person has shot by making the camera turn) with a shot image, and to reproduce them on a display by making them link to a map data (that is the data as which is registered into the map) so that the moving locus of the shot position can be indicated are proposed by the Japanese published unexamined patent application No. H9-200666, and to reproduce the shot image mixed with a map image (that is the image as which is registered into the map) on a display so that a shot person (that is the person which has shot the shot image) can easily confirm the shot position are proposed by the Japanese published unexamined patent application No. H9-139906, respectively.
Moreover, in addition to detecting a shot position, the functions to obtain a position of a shot object by detecting a distance between the shot position and the shot object, for example, based on a focal distance (that is the distance which is measured by focusing a camera on the shot object) and to record and display the obtained information of the position of the shot object are proposed by the Japanese published unexamined patent application No. H9-135416.
Similarly, the functions to detect a shot position by using the GPS, to detect a shot direction by using a geomagnetism sensor and to detect a distance between the shot position and the shot object by using a focal distance, to specify concretely the shot place and/or the shot object, that is, for example to specify the location name or the proper name such as the North Alps or Mt. Fuji, and to record, reproduce and display them with the shot image are proposed by the Japanese published unexamined patent application No. H9-37203.
The conventional image recording reproducing apparatus described in the above-mentioned patent application No. H9-37203 has some advantages that when reproducing the shot image the shot place and the shot object can be easily confirmed and the works to discriminate, arrange and edit the reproduced shot image can be performed with no error and high efficiency since the shot position and/or the shot object are specified by the concrete location name and/or the proper name as which are memorized into the map information.
Especially, it is intelligible to record and display the shot position and the shot object, for example, with the name of a country, a prefecture and a cities, the proper name of a mountain and river, the specific name of a building and a park, or the location name of a place and an area.
However, by depending on the shot place such as a tourist-resort in which a plural number of famous objects are crowded, two or more famous buildings and facilities, or plural scenery of a mountain, a river and a lake may be shot in one scene of the shot image.
In the case, by using the method proposed by the patent application No. H9-37203, it will become difficult to specify only one from the plural shot objects.
It is, similarly, difficult to specify only one of the shot place.
It is convenient, in such case, if a certain information such as the proper name which indicates the shot place and the shot object can be selected, and the exact information regarding to said shot place and said shot object can be recorded and displayed according to the shot person""s or the user""s will.
The purpose of the invention is to enable to specify exactly the additional information concerning to the shot place and the shot object.
The purpose can be achieved by employing the following means:
shot place extractor to extract the shot place proposed by referring the map information corresponding to the shot position on the map,
and, if two or more proposed shot places exist, to extract the shot places with higher order of the priority according to the degree of the exactness of the proposed shot places;
shot object extractor to extract the shot object proposed by referring the map information corresponding to the shot object on the map and by referring the shot position, the distance between the shot position and the shot object, and the direction of the shot object,
and, if two or more proposed shot objects exist, to extract the shot objects with higher order of the priority according to the degree of the exactness of the proposed shot objects;
display to display the proposed shot places and the proposed shot objects with the priority on a display;
selection means to select at least one of the displayed proposed shot places and the displayed proposed shot objects.
By using these means of the invention, the shot person or the user can specify the information of the shot place and the shot object added on the shot image exactly according to his will.
In this case it is desirable that the shot place extractor sets up the fixed area, for example circle area, around of the shot position on the map, extracts the proposed shot place corresponding to at least one of the plural objects, places and areas which may correspond to the shot place within the fixed area, and then sets up said priority with the order according to the distance from the center of the fixed area, that is with nearer order from the center.
Similarly, it is desirable that the shot object extractor sets up the fixed area, for example ellipsoid area, around of the shot object with a long extension to the shot direction on the map, extracts the proposed shot object corresponding to at least one of the plural objects, places and areas which may correspond to the shot object within the fixed area, and then sets up said priority with the order according to the distance either from the center of the fixed area or from the axis of the shot direction, that is with nearer order from the center or the axis.
It is also desirable that the extension of the fixed area set up to extract the shot place and the shot object has a default value, and also the value can be made change by the shot person and the user.
In addition, the map information is supplemented with the information of the weight according to the predetermined degree of notability and of shot-frequency for at least one of the specific objects, places and areas so that the shot object extractor can set up the order of the priority according to the weight, and the information of the shot object to be added to the shot image can become more exact.
And if there is no proposed shot object in the fixed area, the fixed area should be extended to extract the proper shot object with repetition.
Moreover, by supplying some external instructions, the objects, places and areas according to the proposed shot object and the proposed shot place can be extracted as at least one of the character information on the map, for example the proper name such as Mt. Fuji, and the location information, for example the prefecture name such as Shizuoka, and the extracted information can be displayed and recorded with the shot image.
When reproducing the recorded information, by supplying some external instructions of selection, it is also able to select and display at least one of the character information and the location information.
It is desirable that the location information can be displayed by the method of marking it on the map.
By recording the extracted or selected information of the shot place and the shot object in compliance with the shot image on a medium, as reproducing the exact information of the shot place and the shot object can be reproduced on a display with the shot image.
To improve the operability, it is desirable that the instruction means to instruct recording of the information of the shot place and the shot object by synchronizing with recording of the shot image or the character information on the medium can be used.
When reproducing, it is also desirable that an index information for the shot image can be displayed according to an instruction.
In this case, the normal display and the index display can be alternated by the instruction.
And it is possible to input an instruction to instruct whether to display the information of the shot place and the shot object or not so that the procedure for extracting the shot place and the shot object, and for recording, reproducing and displaying them can be controlled.
Moreover, it is desirable to have a pause function by which the recording of the information of the shot object can be paused if it is not in agreement with the actual name, for example, of the background.
While the shot image cannot be recorded, or such information as the proper names of the extracted shot place and the shot object can not be recorded, they can be displayed so that the information regarding to the current shot place and the circumference geography can be obtained in compliance with the map, and they can be helpful as a convenient guide for a stranger of the location.